Hanoi to ban vehicles around Hoan Kiem Lake to attract tourists

Hanoi is set to ban all vehicles on streets around Hoan Kiem (Sword) Lake every evening from Friday to Sunday starting September 1 to make it tourist-friendly.

They will be pedestrians-only from 7 p.m. to midnight, and relevant agencies will assign personnel to regulate traffic and prevent possible congestion elsewhere as a result, according to Hanoi Transport Department.

Several bus routes will be modified to avoid the banned areas.

Around the area, there will be 18 parking lots for buses and cars and 57 for motorbikes with a capacity of more than 600 cars and 2,700 motorbikes.

The capital got its first walking-only street in 2004 when a section of Hang Dao Street was made off-limits to vehicles.

A decade later more walking streets were designated in the old quarter: like Hang Buom, Hang Giay, Luong Ngoc Quyen, Ma May, Dao Duy Tu and Ta Hien.

From September 1 the city will also lift a midnight curfew on restaurants, bars, cafés, karaoke parlors and others in another move to promote tourism.

They will be allowed to remain open until 2 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday